6 Books on Leadership, Business, Optimism, Habits and Creativity

Here are the books I liked recently. They offer bother inspiration and information. They cover a range of topics.
Trailblazer by Marc Benioff and Monica Langley
This was totally inspirational to me. Marc gives his back story which was interesting. He was always interested in technology from childhood. The main theme is that culture not only eats strategy for breakfast but everything else. Doing good and giving back is good for business. It does have an idealistic tone, but I think this book is a must read for all entrepreneurs and business leaders. He also talks about taking a stand on issues which Marc has done on numerous occasions. He also talks about setting a vision, knowing your values, having a method, overcoming your obstacles and finally measures for progress.
Good Habits Bad Habits by Wendy Wood
I thought do we really need another book on habits. There has been enough written on this subject. However, I found this to be quiet well researched. The main theme is the context is important. This means the way your environment is organized determines the habits you decide to stick to. So, if you don’t want to eat brownies don’t go to places where they are served. Second is repetition for a minimum of 66 days. Any habit for it to be automatic must be practiced several times. Finally reward yourself.
 The Optimist’s telescope by Bina Venkataraman
This is all about thinking ahead in a reckless age. None of us can predict the future with certainty. Here are some ways for us to go through this process. First look beyond near-term targets, second stoke the imagination, third create immediate rewards for future goals, fourth direct attention away from immediate urges, and finally demand and design better institutions.
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
I found the book “The Infinite Game” by Simon Sinek to be illuminating and interesting. Business is an infinite game. There are finite games in life like sports where there is a clear winner. However, for most of us normal folks’ life is an infinite game where there is no clear winner. At the end of our lives nobody will say he was a winner at life. The main premise of this book is most of business is an infinite game. Play the long game and out last the competition. You can find my review here. Life and Business is an Infinite Game
 What it takes by Stephen A. Schwarzman
He is the Blackstone chairman, and this was quite interesting. He gave 25 ideas to win in life and business. Some of the ideas include instead of worrying act, failure is the best teacher in an organization, help others achieve their dreams, success comes down to rare moments of opportunity, and one more good one he said don’t lose money objectively assess the risk of every opportunity.
Creative Calling by Chase Jarvis
The main point of this book is all of us are born creative. The key is to exercise our creative muscles. The key is to find the why of your creative pursuit. Once you find that you can then decide which platform you want to use to bring out all your creativity for the world to see. Once you find your audience then you can launch into the public domain. Maintaining a journal to jot down all your ideas, plans and thoughts is also a wonderful way to enhance creativity.
 Thanks for reading this post. The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.

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